


Aftermath

by forgetfulgoldfish



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Grief, Loss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-17
Updated: 2015-09-17
Packaged: 2018-04-21 05:05:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4816079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forgetfulgoldfish/pseuds/forgetfulgoldfish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the initial escape from her burning and besieged home, Blaire Cousland's whole world finally begins to fall down around her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> first written submission to ao3! and it's 2:13 a.m. as i type this aha, i'm such a champ.  
> i'm not entirely sure how this site works, so if i mistag something, or leave a tag off entirely, please let me know. 
> 
> this was just a little something to flesh out my warden a little, nothing major. :)

Lungs and throat burning, ears still ringing from the screams that now resounded in the distance. Her legs carried her further and further away from her home, a castle that was now under siege and destroyed in less than a few hours by those who were supposed to be her family’s ally. Ashes clung to her hair and her tongue, the air around them bitter and burnt. Blood was dried and caked onto her skin; her father’s blood, the blood of the soldiers under her family’s banner, the blood of the soldiers under the traitor’s banner… She didn’t really mind the latter, though.

Her emotions had ran dry during the escape, but her mind raced as fast as her feet. Fear twisted in her gut as she could still feel Howe’s guards at her heel, their swords unsheathed in one hand and shield in the other. She saw their leering grins as they sprinted after her, their blades painted crimson. _Blood. Her father, Fergus, Oren, Oriana… Nan, Aldous, Mallol, Ser Gilmore… Mother. So much blood. Faster. Run faster!_ Her eyes clenched shut, arms pumped harder and harder, her body aching and lungs screaming in protest. _FASTER!_

It wasn’t until she crashed into the armored back of the Grey Warden that helped her escape her fate that she actually stopped running. The older man grunted in surprise as he was nearly toppled over from the impact. His new recruit gasped, pushing off from him in shock and staggering back a few steps as he turned to examine her. As he straightened up, Duncan gazed down at the young woman he’d just taken under his wing in sorrow. Her silver eyes were wide in alarm, hands and legs shaking, breaths coming out in rapid pants. Her hair, once a pristine, auburn sock bun with two loose curls falling just in front of each of her eyes, was now loose and draped over her back, tangled from blood and sticking to her forehead and neck with sweat. Her entire form was smudged with blood and dirt, including her leather cuirass, greaves, boots, and daggers that were sheathed at her back. Her mabari remained at her side, ears peeled back as his tongue lolled out from the side of his mouth, breaths matching their own. The hound looked from his master, and then to Duncan, a low whine in his throat. Duncan’s eyebrows furrowed, gaze flickering back to the young girl before him. 

“Blaire?” he spoke gently, or as gently as was possible through his own exhausted breathing. The woman before him blinked as confusing flashed across her face, a frown tugging at her lips. 

“Why did we stop?” she demanded in a rush, eyes narrowing. Whether from anger or from the acrid smoke hanging in the air, Duncan wasn’t sure. 

“I am not young, my lady. Unlike you, I cannot run-“

“We _need_ to run, Duncan.” she interrupted, flicking nervous glances over her shoulder and behind him, into the surrounding woods. Searching from Howe’s guards, no doubt. Remorse tugged at the older man’s heart, but he had to reason with her.

Duncan shook his head, sighing softly. “We need to rest a moment. Catch our breath.” he replied, calmly rejecting her suggestion. His hands rested on his hips as he still struggled to reign in his heart rate and breathing, head falling back as he stared into the night sky above. “Howe’s guards would not have followed two stragglers escaping the castle. At any rate, they probably mistook us for fleeing soldiers.” 

After a few moments of tense silence, Duncan’s gaze fell back onto Blaire. She stood some ways away, her back toward him. Her shoulders still rose and fell with every deep breath, but her fists were clenched at her sides as she faced the burning castle in the distance. The smoke billowing from inside the stone walls glowed orange before it lifted into the air, some of the flames licking out and from around the castle. Her hound had sat beside her, his side pressed into her leg as if in an attempt to ground her. Duncan inhaled slowly, taking a few tentative steps forward. Before he’d even came within a foot from her, she spoke. 

“I don’t know what to do.” she whispered, almost inaudible. A slight shiver wracked her body. “I don’t know how to feel. It’s like… I’ve been dumped into an icy lake. I _can’t_ feel.” Her mabari nosed at her fist, whimpering, but she paid him no mind. 

“Blaire…” Duncan murmured, reaching a hand out to place on her shoulder. “There was nothing more that you could have d-“

“I _know!_ ” she snapped, causing both Duncan and her dog to sharply draw away in surprise as she rounded on the man. Her silver eyes flared in rage, glistening with unshed tears. “I’m not stupid! None of this was in my control, but do you think that makes me feel any better?!” Still facing him, her finger jabbed in the direction of the castle ruins behind her. “ _That_ was my home! I’ve never known anything else, and now, not only is it destroyed, but my entire _family_ is gone! My _friends_ are gone! They’re all…” Blaire took a shaky breath, her chin trembling. Her arm fell to her side once more in defeat, her eyes casting into the dirt as tears streaked her flushed cheeks. She spoke in hushed agony. “Dead. They’re dead, and there was nothing I could do…” 

Her hound once more rushed to her side, whining and nudging more forcefully at her leg. An unsteady hand flew up in an attempt to catch a sob before it escaped, but as it did, so did her strength to stand. Blaire fell to her knees, arms wrapping around her dog’s neck in an iron grip that the beast didn’t seem to mind in the slightest. Duncan could only watch as the young woman before him finally crumbled underneath the gravity of what she’d just experienced. After a few seconds, he had to look away, eyes falling shut against memories that were supposed to be long buried. He knew the pain of losing one’s parents at a young age all too well, after all.

The hound now nestled his head into the crook of Blaire’s shoulder as she buried her face into his fur, fingers clawing at his hide. Her cries were silent, the occasional jerk of her shoulders and shuddering breaths the only giveaways to what she was currently feeling. Duncan took the last few steps toward her before he slowly sank to the ground, legs crossed, elbows resting over his knees and hands clasped together before him. His head was bowed slightly as he glanced over at the grieving woman beside him, his own emotions now in disquiet. As much as he wanted to comfort her, to tell her that things would get better and that she wasn’t truly alone, he knew she had to take something from this. As a future Grey Warden, this wouldn’t be the last time she would feel as though her world were shattered. She needed to be strong. 

Duncan’s eyes fell to his hands, his tone offering slight sympathy. 

“We will be off once you are ready.”


End file.
